To capture the grandeur and drama of the tumultuous end of the Tsarist era in Russia, Rasputin was lavishly filmed in the grand palaces and public rooms of St. Petersburg and Budapest. Hundreds of actors were arrayed in elaborate period costumes to recreate the splendour and excitement of the court of the last Tsar.

The renowned cast brings to life the main players in the amazing story of the peasant mystic who held the fate of an entire nation in his hands. Alan Rickman (Galaxy Quest, Die Hard) inhabits with wild intensity the character of the hypnotic Grigori Rasputin, for which he won the Golden Globe, the Emmy, and the Screen Actors Guild Award. As Tsar Nicholas II, Ian McKellen (Gods and Monsters, Richard III, X-Men) conveys the subtle complexity of the historic figure: family man, military commander and last in a line of absolute rulers. His performance earned the Golden Globe award for Best Supporting Actor. Greta Scacchi (The Red Violin) is the Tsarina Alexandra, torn between love for her dying son and the best interests of her husband and her country, in an Emmy-winning performance also nominated for the Golden Globe.

The supporting cast are exceptional as well, including David Warner, John Wood, Robert Lang, James Frain, Ian Hoog, and Sheila Ruskin.

Alan Rickman (Rasputin) and Greta Scacchi (Tsarina Alexandra)

Greta Scacchi (Tsarina Alexandra) and Ian McKellen (Tsar Nicholas II)

Words by Ian McKellen

Winner of 3 Golden Globe Awards

Winner - Best Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV

Winner - Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV
Alan Rickman

Winner - Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture
Ian McKellen

Nominated - Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture
Greta Scacchi

Ian McKellen, Greta Scacchi and Alan Rickman at the Golden Globe Awards, 1997

At the Golden Globes ceremony, the table for the Rasputin cast and our supporters was set at the back of the room, where service was not perhaps as efficient as elsewhere. For an hour or so after the meal that was served before the live television transmission, our food congealed on the uncollected plates. When my name was read out, to my great surprise and with no speech prepared, my first words of acceptance were ungratefully: "Could someone please clear up our table at the back!" I am surprised that the our hosts the Foreign Press Association asked me back the next year. — Ian McKellen, August 2000

Winner of 3 Emmy Awards

Winner - Outstanding Individual Achievement in Cinematography for a Miniseries or a Special
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Winner - Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Special
Alan Rickman

Winner - Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Special
Greta Scacchi

Nominated - Outstanding Individual Achievement in Art Direction for a Miniseries or a Special
Branimir Babic (Art Director)
Livia Balogh (Budapest: Set Decorator)
Aleksandar Denic (Set Decorator)
Lorand Javor (Budapest: Art Director)
Miljen Kreka Kljakovic (Production Designer)
Yuri Pashigoryev (St. Petersburg: Art Director)

Nominated - Outstanding Individual Achievement in Costume Design for a Miniseries or a Special
Natasha Landau

Nominated - Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Special
Ian McKellen

Winner - Screen Actors Guild Award

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a TV Movie or Miniseries
Alan Rickman

American Society of Cinematographers, USA

Nominated - Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography in Movies of the Week/Pilots
Elemér Ragályi